Alfacs Bay. Ebre delta.
This picture belongs to Album Ebre delta
To die far away from the sea
Tag Archives: Color
Quico
It was before sunrise. I was shooting an small quay located near the Magdalena drainage, in the Alfacs bay.
A work ban stopped and a young man went out. He was going to inspect something at the quay when he noticed me and my camera. We started to talk immediately.
Quico is one of the Delta fishers. He owns an small boat and uses it to install “gànguils” in the Alfacs bay. A “gànguil” is a sort of net with conic shape that is placed underwater for several days. When the fishes come inside, they become trapped.
Quico was going to “Xurrar”, that is the action to extract the “gànguils” from the sea to gather the trapped fish. He invited me to go with him. We got on the boat, Quico working with the nets and I working with my camera.
And we spoke a lot about the Delta and its complex and fragile ecosystem. About the interests of all the people who lives or works in the Delta: fishers, farmers, tourist sector, ecologists, … About how the Delta steps back without solution because of the decrease of fresh water, and also mud, carried by the river.
We also spoke about the pesticides used in the rice fields and its impact in the environment, and also about the plagues, like the apple snail one, that appear to be unstoppable. About the sea over-exploitation that is reducing the catch. About the tourist sector and the lack of plan for developing it.
In summary, about the concerns of the people who loves the land that feed them.
And after we said goodbye, the destiny joined us again to eat at Quico’s brother restaurant: “Lo pati d’Agustí”, at the village of “Poblenou”, where I could ate one of the best wood fire cooked paella I ever tasted!
Alfacs bay. Ebre delta.
This picture belongs to Album Portrait
Water boat
Illa de Mar harbour. Ebre delta.
This picture belongs to Album Ebre delta
Sant Joan Tower
The Sant Joan tower is placed in an small island located inside the “port dels Alfacs”, 50 meters away from the Ebre river delta shore. It was build by king Felip II in 1576 an was the first of four towers targeted to defend the Delta from pirate ships. Finally only two of they were finished.
The path to reach the shore surrounding the tower is a little hard so the spot is normally deserted. When I arrived, before the sunrise, there was no one. To access the island from the shore there is a loose stones path that at that moment was submerged. Luckily my idea was to shoot from the shore so I started to work.
Then it happened a phenomenon that still today astonishes me: the stone path to the tower started to be visible. “The tide is fast”, I thought. But just a few minutes after, the path disappeared again under the water as fast as it had appeared. It was like to be inside a fantasy novel: the tower invited me to get in by showing me the path to the island!
I don’t know the explanation to this sudden change of the bay water level, but I’m sure that it is completely rational. But meanwhile I don’t find why, I happy to think that the tower invited me to get in that day ….
Port dels Alfacs. Ebre delta.
This picture belongs to Album Ebre delta
Gull over the mirror
The delta of the Ebre river is a place that landscape photographers should never miss. A place where sea shores are infinite and deserted, where the sea is smooth like a prefect mirror and the land is always flat and looks completely different every season.
The last time I visited the Delta was 15 years ago. This summer I had the opportunity to come back for a few days, just enough to realise that I have to return more often, that I have the need to explore this landscape in depth through the viewfinder of my Nikon.
The next weeks I will post the pictures I shot at the Delta. They are only a small introduction to this land.
Illa de Mar harbour. Ebre delta.
This picture belongs to Album Ebre delta
Fast portraiture
Last weekend the Agrupació fotogràfica d’Arenys offered a fast portrait session to all the people who visited its studio.
The Marc Egea portrait is my favourite from all the shoots I took. Marc is a very multifaceted person and I think that his glance reflects it.
Marc Egea. Arenys de Mar.
This picture belongs to Album Portrait